A few things before American Idol starts ;)

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Not too much excitement going on the past week, but here's a few things...

Last Tuesday John and I needed a break from the humdrum of work, daily chores, etc. So we drove over to Ballast Point Park (on the south edge of Tampa, near MacDill Air Force Base). It's a nice park with benches, a playground, and a pier that juts out into the beautiful Bay. From here you can see Bayshore Blvd. and all its glorious mansions, the city skyline, Davis Island, and even over towards our part of town. We walked the pier, saw some trout (we think) and two big stingrays, then decided to grab lunch at the little "Taste of Boston" cafe there. So, on the menu was great seafood...I knew John would get his usual grouper sandwich, and I'd get shrimp. For those who know me well, that's all I used to order at seafood restaurants when I was a kid. I've widened my horizons since then. But lately seafood has been a treat (kind of pricey), and I can only eat 12 ounces each week, and no sushi for me, WAHHH! John actually ordered a chicken sandwich...and my eyes lingered on the Lobster Roll. So when I ordered it, the guy behind the counter goes: "Oh, are you pregnant?" O.K. at this point ladies and gents, I do actually have a little potbelly going on. To the point where it sticks out more than the "chest" area (which at first was larger, and boy howdy was I excited about that cause my booty has always been bigger than my other "lovely lady lumps", whatever as the song goes, now it's not so much). Kind of saddened by this fact, but maybe when my milk starts to come in..... Sorry Dad if you're reading this, LOL!!

But this was my first "stranger" encounter. I was a little taken aback. I thought, well, what if I wasn't? This guy would have been yelled at and made to feel terrible. But luckily for him, I am. So I said yes. Guy goes: "yeah, alot of pregnant ladies ask for the lobster roll for some reason." Hmmm...interesting. Never heard of lobster roll cravings before.

So anyway, fun lunch before John had to head into work.

Second stranger encounter:

John and I planned a beach day on Saturday because he had the whole day and night off, and since he got to go to the SEC basketball tourney Friday night (well I could have gone too, but 4 hours of basketball in unconfortable seats? No thanks)....I got to choose what to do on Saturday. So for a change of the normal Pinellas county beach scenery, we drove about an hour to Siesta Key Beach, near Sarasota. Beautiful beach, cool, white, sugary sands, clear aquamarine water, lots of senior citizens driving and walking, but actually more families on the beach. After baking for awhile and being brave by jumping in the water, we were hungry. So again, Yay! Seafood at a local joint. First thing older lady hostess says: "two for lunch? And a little pumpkin I see?" Again, strange, but I think I'll just have to get used to it. By the way, Dad used to call me pumpkin, so cute.

John's been working hard on fertiziling the yard and plants, spraying weed killer, edging, etc. I try to remember to water our hanging plants every day. There's such a drought right now here. Please pray for rain!

He also had a monthly work meeting. This time the big boss man of the company came and handed out awards. He got a "Performance and Team Award" certificate, a book, and $250. Hello! Congrats on job well done John!

I guess last week was a lead-up to the Luck O' the Irish day...we also got our tax refund!

So, my car got a mini makeover today. It needed some TLC: got new tires, oil change, something with brakes (I think the last people we took it to put in the pads wrong), and FINALLY got my driver's side window fixed after 4 years. YAY! I can finally roll it up and down. No more opening my door at McDonald's or the ATM machine! We also might use the tax refund to pay off my car next month, woo hoo!

I've also been working on a scrapbook project whenever boredom sets in. I like to do it at night while John's at work, have the radio or TV on in the background. Do a few pages then call it a night. Kind of relaxing.

We checked out Babies R Us today to scope out furniture. So much to choose from! When we got home, we started looking at other store's websites...then I got really frustrated because I do that when there are just too many choices!! I do that at the grocery store too. I mean people make 50 different kinds of Ranch dressing just to torture me. Indecisive much?? Yes I am...but when it comes to baby, I only want what's best, and what I think I'll be happy with for a LONG time.

O.K. That's plenty for now...here's some pics:

Baby Update

This past Friday, I had a Level II ultrasound at Brandon Regional Hospital, then an OB appointment after that. Everything looks good, and from what the ultrasound technician could tell, with maybe 90% accuracy, we're having a girl! (don't go and buy pink stuff yet was the advice she gave because I'll have another ultrasound in a month that will be more accurate). The baby kept moving around, and had his/her legs crossed for awhile. But all 10 fingers, all 10 toes! At my OB appointment, I met another doctor in the practice. I weighed in at 152, which is better than the 145 I was about a month ago. I have another OB date set for April 3rd, and my next ultrasound is April 8.
So....our younger cat Pepper has been driving me crazy lately for some reason. She just annoys me by doing things like sitting almost on the computer keyboard. You throw her off, say no, get down, etc. She'll hop right back up. Also vomits for no reason, poops right outside the litter box (we have 2!!), and chews on any kind of electrical cord she can find. Our older cat Ashlyn has been very sweet and gentle. Usually people think of Ashlyn as the "witchy" one because she only likes to be petted when she wants to, not when you want to. But, I think she has an intuition about the baby lately, seriously (I know some of you are like, what a crazy cat lady). But Pepper is starting to act like a jealous middle child. She will sometimes sneak past as we open our back porch door to go outside. I don't like this because even though they can't escape the screened porch, they get pollen and oak buds on their fur and bring it back inside. Anyway...the other day I had spent most of the morning inside and all of a sudden had an itch to go to CVS to pick up some household supplies. So, I tried to lure Pepper back inside from the back with no luck. Finally, I acted like I wanted to pet her, then grabbed her to pick her up. Both of her back legs went flailing and scratched the **** out of my forearm. It was alot worse than the picture posted. I practically threw her inside the living room (we all know cats land on all fours, so don't be calling the ASPCA or Sarah McLaughlin). It has been 2 days. Pictures to follow....

So, I seriously thought about throwing her into the pool (or less horrific was taking her back to the Humane Society).
UMMMMM...does this mean I'm going to be a terrible mother? Thoughts??

Her "innocent" look...on the ugly Gator rug.

Hey ya'll!

Guess it's time to update...

Well, I've officially been unemployed for 3 weeks now. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, John's been working his butt off at two jobs. He's working at Lowe's on some of his days off of his full time job, in the lawn and garden section. He really enjoys not being at a computer the whole time, and assisting customers. For awhile there, I was really wondering if he got any sleep at all, as he only had maybe one day a week off of both jobs. So, thanks John for the hard work.

We spring cleaned the house last week, for almost 3 days in a row. I had alot of energy I guess, so I cleaned out and organized stuff that were in our closets and under beds. Found our friend Dave's pair of shoes under the guest bed that have been there since last summer. Ummm..so I guess I need to clean under there more often! But I successfully emptied the baby's closet so that we'll have room for baby stuff. Just need to kick out the kitties eventually, still have their litter boxes in there! And I found tons of old pictures from when I was a kid and high school...so that'll be my next big project, organizing photos. John helped me deep-clean the refrigerator and microwave, mop the floors, get the guest bed ready, rake leaves, clean the pool, etc.etc. etc. We took a ton of stuff to Goodwill. Usually we don't ask for a tax receipt, but oh yeah, definitely this time around because of so much junk!

Speaking of taxes, John just did ours online yesterday. Getting a good refund. However, he also figured the past 2 years...and H&R Block basically screwed us royally. We actually had to pay the first year we lived in the house, then last year, got like a $100 refund. Why??? Well, they basically didn't count any of the interest we've been paying on the house! And didn't factor in John's tuition costs. So we're hoping for another two checks in the next few months if the IRS figures it out. We're never going to H&R Block again!! We'll do it ourselves!

However, this past weekend he took time off to relax, and enjoy time with me and his buddies who came into town to visit. John, visiting from Texas, Matt, on a R& R break from his civilian job in Iraq, and Jesse, visiting from Gainesville, were all in Tampa this past weekend. Friday afternoon we picked up John, and along with our friend Dave, walked Ybor City for a bit, then had Eric and Paul over that night. The guys had fun just sitting around talking and having a few beers.

The next day we all headed out to the beach: me, J, Matt, John, Eric, Jesse, Paul and Linda and their daughter, and Jennifer, Phillip, and Dominick. We went to beautiful Fort DeSoto Park, voted America's #1 beach several times, and had fun in the sun. It was gorgeous weather, the girls chatted while the guys played a little football and were crazy enough to get in the cold water.

Me (in my new tankini maternity suit that I don't quite fill out yet) & Jenn


L to R: John, Matt, Jesse, John M., Paul and Linda



The Domster (love the new haircut)

Dinner that night at Middle Grounds (great little trendy seafood restaurant at Treasure Island):

The gang L to R: J, John M., Jesse, Linda, Paul, Matt, Dave, Susan, Natalie, Julia, Eric, Tom, A.

Sunday we took Matt, John, and Jesse to Busch Gardens. They enjoyed a few roller coasters and seeing the animals. The cold front had already come through, so it was a bit chillier than we expected. But that was great because the park was not busy at all, no lines!

That night the guys grilled good food and we had some folks over. The guys stayed up late talking, and giggling ;) Sorry neighbors for any shouting, cursing, or laughing loudly that was going on at 1 a.m....when you have an old Army vet reunion, that's what happens!

Everyone left on Monday. Good times had by all. (We're both pooped now!)

I'm going over to Clearwater tomorrow to spend some time with Jenn and visit with the grandparents. I'll be glad to rest today, but I'll be ready to get out again tomorrow!

Friday is another OB appointment, and also an ultrasound...so we might find out gender of baby then, even if it's not 100% accurate. Baby is now size of avocado ;)

By the way, we want to say congrats to our friends Mike and Kimberly who had a healthy, gorgeous baby boy a few weeks ago! Congrats to all of our friends with 2009 babies: Mike and Danielle recently had a beautiful girl; Chris and Brooke just found out they're having a girl; Paul and Linda are having a girl also in May..... so hmm... I think we're going to have a boy to balance all these girls out? I don't know, we'll see!!